Afghanistan Times
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KABUL – The opening match of the two-match Twenty20 series between Bangladesh and Afghanistan saw Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan winning the toss and electing to field first. Despite initial concerns about rain, the match commenced as scheduled.
Bangladesh entered the game after a successful run in the T20 format, having defeated T20 world champions England 3-0 and Ireland 2-1. However, they recently faced a setback in the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, losing 2-1. To avoid a series sweep, Bangladesh emerged victorious in the final ODI in Chattogram.
Making a couple of changes from their previous T20 encounter against Ireland, where they suffered a seven-wicket defeat, the hosts included left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman and all-rounder Mehidy Hasan, replacing fast bowler Hasan Mahmud and leg-spinner Rishad Ahmed.
On the other hand, Afghanistan arrived with confidence following their T20 series win over Pakistan and their first-ever ODI series win against Bangladesh. They made one change from their previous T20 match against Pakistan, bringing in Hazratullah Zazai in place of Sediqullah Atal.
Here are the lineups for both teams:
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (captain), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fareed Ahmad, Azmatullah Omarzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Bangladesh: Litton Das, Rony Talukdar, Najmul Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Nasum Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman.
